The Complete Aliens Collection: Living Nightmares (Phalanx, Infiltrator, Vasquez) (eBook)

Scott Sigler, V. Castro, Weston (Autoren)

eBook Download: EPUB

2024 | 1. Auflage
880 Seiten
TITAN BOOKS (Verlag)
978-1-80336-661-6 (ISBN)

Infos

Collected together for the first time, this omnibus brings new authors to the Alien universe. Across three epic novels, discover the origins of fan-favorite character PFC Jenette Vasquez and her family, fight extinction at the hands of Xenomorphs, and find the researchers of Pala Station courting disaster of... the Xenomorph kind. INFILTRATOR: The official prequel to Aliens: Fire Team Elite from Cold Iron Studios. Dr. Timothy Hoenikker arrives on Pala Station, a Weyland-Yutani facility. Lured there by the promise of alien artifacts, instead he finds a warped bureaucracy and staff of misfits testing the effects of Xenomorph bio-materials on living creatures. Unbeknownst to the personnel, however, there is an infiltrator among them whose actions could spell disaster. Also on staff is Victor Rawlings, a former marine who gathers together other veterans to prepare for the worst. As Pala Station receives a delivery of alien eggs, the experiments spin out of control, and only the former Colonial Marines stand between the humans and certain death. PHALANX: Ataegina was an isolated world of medieval castles and rich cultures-vibrant until the demons rose and slaughtered ninety percent of the planet's population. Swarms of lethal creatures with black husks, murderous claws, barbed tails and dreaded 'tooth-tongues' rage across the land. Terrified survivors hide in ruined mountain keeps, where they eke out a meager existence. Skilled runners travel the treacherous paths between keeps, maintaining trade and sharing information. If caught, they die screaming.  Ahiliyah of Lemeth Hold is an exceptional runner, constantly risking her life for her people. When she and her closest companions discover a new weapon, it may offer the one last chance to end the demon plague. But to save humanity, the trio must fight their way to the tunnels of Black Smoke Mountain-the lair of the mythical Demon Mother.  VASQUEZ: Even before the doomed mission to Hadley's Hope, Jenette Vasquez had to fight to survive. Born to an immigrant family with a long military tradition she looked up to the stars, but life pulled her back down to Earth-first into a street gang, then prison. The Colonial Marines proved to be Vasquez's way out-a way that forced her to give up her twin children. Raised by Jenette's sister Roseanna, those children-Leticia and Ramón-have been forced to discover their own ways to survive. Leticia by following her mother's path into the military, Ramón by embracing the corporate hierarchy of Weyland-Yutani. Their paths converge on an unnamed world, which some see as a potential utopia, while others would use it for highly secretive research. Regardless of what humans might have planned for it, however, Xenomorphs will turn the planet into a living hell. Sarcastic, sexy, and action-packed, Vasquez brings generational heritage into the Alien universe in an explosive way.

Scott Sigler is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of sixteen novels, six novellas and dozens of short stories. He serializes his fiction in a weekly podcast, with more than 40 million episodes downloaded. He is a co-founder of Empty Set Entertainment, which publishes his Galactic Football League series. He lives in San Diego, CA, with his wee little dog Reesie.

Textauszug

EPILOGUE

“The strength of the phalanx is the spearman,” Ahiliyah shouted across the plain.

“The strength of the spearman is the phalanx,” her troops shouted back.

“Again,” she said, “on my command.”

In her right hand, General Ahiliyah Cooper held a spear, the heavy butt-spike on the ground, the business end pointed toward the blue sky above.

In her left arm, she held her baby.

She stared out at a scene she once could have only dreamt about. In the distance, men and women toiled away on large squares of farmland. Different colors for different crops—wheat, barley, and the glorious feathered tufts that were ears of corn, ready to harvest.

Closer in front of her, in the first group, stood men—and more than a few women—with shields and six-foot-long spears. Sixteen people across, three ranks deep. The warriors gleamed with sweat generated from the day’s heat and from their constant drilling. Sunlight played off chestplates, mostly bronze, but a few new ones of the hard-iron variety as well.

The shields, however, were all new, all made from hard-iron, hammered out in the forges of Vinden, Jantal, Keflan, and Lemeth. Made in four different places, but they no longer bore the crests of individual holds—now each shield was painted with a sun rising above a stylized mountain range—the symbol for the unified nation of Ataegina.

Ahiliyah drew in a breath, barked out a command. “Front rank, lower!”

The front rank lowered their spears level with the ground.

“Second rank, lower!”

The second rank obeyed.

“Third rank, angle!”

The third rank lowered, their spears angling up at fifteen degrees.

Forty-eight people had just transformed into an armored wall of death. She had another three groups of forty-eight, and could have made her front line longer, but along with shortening the spears and utilizing the new hard-iron shields, she’d changed tactics. She gave orders to those groups, moving one to the left flank, one to the right, and keeping one in the center.

Some of these warriors had survived the battle against the demons. Some were Vindenians. Some were Takantans and Lemethians who had run—but no one cared about that. They were alive, and their experience was proving invaluable. For anyone who had survived that hellish day, their cowardice was understandable, and forgiven.

Most of the fighters, however, consisted of younger Bisethians, Takantans and Vindenians who were new to arms and combat. They all wanted to learn from the General, the one who had rid their world of the great evil.

“Slow march,” Ahiliyah shouted.

The groups moved forward, counting off every second step, a marching hedge with two-hundred and fifty-six feet stepping in perfect unison. Were they ready? Ahiliyah hoped so. She would continue to drill them until they were.

She wondered if Sinesh would have been proud of what she was building. She felt that he would. She missed him, missed Panda, Brandun’s mother… so many others.

Ahiliyah saw people approaching down the long trail that led up to Lemeth Hold—Susannah, running fast, her hidey-suit leaves rippling. Farther back, Tolio and two young baker’s assistants, each laboring to carrying a large wooden crate.

“Formation, halt,” Ahiliyah called out.

As one, the groups stopped.

“At rest!” Spears rose up. Shields lowered to the ground.

Despite nearly sprinting at least a mile, Susannah was barely breathing hard. Her face net was flipped back, exposing her blonde hair and deeply tanned skin.

“General Cooper,” she said, “there’s been a sighting of Northerner ships off the coast.”

The words chilled Ahiliyah’s blood. “How many ships?”

“Three,” Susannah said, “but the scouts said they were a ways off. There could be more.”

Susannah wore a hidey suit, but she wasn’t a runner. Those positions had been done away with. She was a scout—one of the new warrior types Ahiliyah had implemented in her updated military structure. Susannah would never be big enough to fight in a phalanx, but she could run like the mountain wind, she never seemed to tire, and in her suit, she could hide so well you might miss her even if she were only a few yards away.

“Any sign of where the ships might land?”

“No, but Biseth garrison is alerted. Little Spider is on his way there now with a new device. He said he’ll be able to see all the way to the coast and miles beyond.”

Ahiliyah said nothing, let her glare communicate for her.

Susannah’s smile vanished. “I’m sorry, General… I shouldn’t have used that name.”

“No, you shouldn’t have,” Ahiliyah said. “When you speak of the man who saved the world, you use his fucking name. Understand?”

Susannah nodded furiously.

“Good,” Ahiliyah said. “What does he call this invention?”

“A farglass, General.”

Yet another Creen invention. In the two years that had passed since the death of the Demon Queen, the boy—no, the man—had created a new kind of mortar that allowed for fast fixes to the ravaged mountain holds, had found a way to make iron harder and more durable than bronze, and able to hold a sharp edge for far longer, had designed the new city of Hellan with a grid structure of roads that made much more sense than the ancient city (which had gradually expanded with winding paths), had created a new style of plow that made farming far more efficient, and now, apparently, had a way to see enemies from far, far off.

Ahiliyah had led the army against the demons. Brandun had killed the Demon Mother. Together, they had given Ataegina a future, but Creen? Hideous scars and all, Creen Dinashin was the future. He continued to learn much from the wreck of the Nan-Shan, bringing that new knowledge to bear for all Ataeginians.

“Take word up to Keflan,” Ahiliyah said. “Have them signal Dakatera, Jantal, Hibernia and Pendaran. I need the Dakateran regiment ready to march immediately.”

“Yes, General,” Susannah said. She tilted her head toward the baby. “May I?”

“Make it quick.” Ahiliyah adjusted her position, careful not to put too much weight on her foot. It had healed, if one could call the twisted, scarred club of flesh healed, but these days her spear was more crutch than weapon.

Susannah took the baby boy. Her face lit up as she held him, making Ahiliyah realize anew how beautiful the girl had become. No, not a girl—a woman.

Soon, perhaps, Susannah would have a child of her own. Ahiliyah would lose a talented scout—for a few months, anyway—but Ataegina would have another citizen, and citizens were needed now more than anything else, even Creen’s new iron.

Tolio arrived, flashing his twisted smile. He always seemed to smile. His light blue eyepatch was a perfect shade for the summer afternoon. Unlike Creen, Tolio didn’t care about the scars he’d earned in battle. He held a food skin in his hand.

“Hello, Susannah,” he said. “I’ll take little Brandun.”

Susannah handed the baby to Tolio.

“Go deliver my message, Susannah,” Ahiliyah said. “You have done well.”

The young woman put her left fist on her sternum. “Thank you, General,” she said, and then she was gone, sprinting across the lowlands toward Mount Lemeth.

Tolio cradled the baby. “And good afternoon to you, General. I brought your unit lunch. Your favorite—pumpkin fritters with vindeedee stuffing.”

Ahiliyah kissed him, then opened the skin and inhaled the scent. She loved anything pumpkin, a flavor she’d never known until a few weeks ago, when the first harvest had come in.

She turned, called to her warriors. “Meal break. Approach in an orderly fashion, rear rank first, get your meal, return to your position, eat there. Spears and shields, down.”

The warriors carefully lowered their equipment to the ground, then the rear rank quickly lined up to take food from Tolio’s assistants.

“They look good,” Tolio said. “Why aren’t they all in a long line?”

“I’ve been working on new tactics,” Ahiliyah said, talking through a mouthful of the delicious fritter. “The smaller groups let me react faster to changes, and when one has fought for too long, I can drop it back and move in another. I call the groups modules.”

“Modules,” Tolio said, trying out the word. “Are your people ready to fight?”

“I think they will be soon.”

“Hopefully soon enough.”

He was right about that. The Northerners. If peace could not be made, soon Ahiliyah’s troops would live out the old ways—men fighting against men. She could say what she would about the demons, but at least they’d never slaughtered each other over a piece of land.

“I’m proud of you, General,” Tolio said. “Will you be home tonight?”

Every single day, he told her he was proud of her, and when he did, he always used her title. She never grew tired of hearing those words from his mouth.

“No,” she said. “Ships have been spotted off the shores of the Northern Plains.”

Tolio’s smile faded. “I wish we could send a demon or two to the North. Keep them busy.”

“Even if I could, I would never use demons as a weapon,” she said. “Only truly insane people could do such a thing.”

Tolio leaned in, kissed her cheek. “If you come home tonight, I will be waiting. If not, I will come see you tomorrow. And I’ll bring...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 5.11.2024
• Verlagsort: London
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Science Fiction
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• Schlagworte: Age of Blood • Alex White • Alien • Alien 3 • alien: bishop • Alien Covenant • Alien: Defiance • Alien graphic novels • Alien: Into Charybdis • Alien: Invasion • Alien: Isolation • alien omnibus gift • Alien: Out of the Shadows • Alien Resurrection • Alien: River of Rain • Alien Role Playing Game • Alien RPG • Aliens • Aliens: Bug Hunt • Alien: Sea of Sorrows • Alien: The Cold Forge • Alien: The Shadow Archive • Alien vs Predator • AVP • Blaze Of Glory • Blood Ocean • Chestburster • Chris Golden • Christopher Golden • Colonial Marines • colony ship • Earth Hive • Ellen Ripley • Empire of Salt • Facehugger • film tie-in • Free League • free league RPG • Hadley’s Hope • Horror • horror books • H.R. GIger • James A. Moore • James Cameron • Jenette Vasquez • Jonathan Maberry • Keith R.A. DeCandido • LV-178 • LV-426 • Movie Tie-in • omnibus books • Ridley Scott • Science Fiction • Seal Team 666 • SF horror • Sigourney Weaver • Tim Lebbon • Tim Waggoner • Xenomorph • Xenomorph queen • Xenos
• ISBN-10: 1-80336-661-3 / 1803366613
• ISBN-13: 978-1-80336-661-6 / 9781803366616